'Williams fastest in testing', I heard that before somewhere.... As to Bruno, looking forward to seeing what he can do with a decent(ish hopefully) car. He maybe a bit scrappy, but he is fast, and has had some good clean runs, I'm guessing he's done far more than Maldonado so he can acclimatise himself to the Williams which looks reliable, a fairly good base to start from. and tyrewear and pace wise it seems ok, although I dont take anything from testing sessions to be any indicator of pace.
Cosi, is spot on, Bruno does not have his uncles raw skills and never will, I stood at the end of Hanger straight at Silverstone and watched Ayrton go through Stowe during qualifying in a turbo car, can't remember the year and thought 'how the **** did he do that' !!! My hair stood on end, incredible. Sorry, but Bruno is average by comparison.
Well, that is certainly true, Ayrton possesed a unique driving skill, however he was always far too close to the edge as it eventually proved, sadly.
Yeah. My point was that if we're really comparing Bruno to his uncle, that will never help his cause (unless he goes on to win a triple world championship). Bruno, based on testing, looks to be reaping the rewards of Williams' faith, though of course it all depends on how good the car is.
Yes of course, three WDCs do seem a tad out of reach for Bruno, whatever he drives in my opinion, but I could be wrong, however there is a current F1 driver who closely emulates if not matches Senna's ability but I wont mention his name.
Maldo has the occasional flash of talent (Monaco) - it just remains to be seen if he can make it more consistent this year. I don't doubt he will run Senna close in the opening races at least.
He put in some great quali performances too but all too often he was a liability. I think he has some temper issues; he often looked as if he was about to explode so God knows what he was like in the car. He could benefit from some anger management Anyway, hopefully they'll both come good this year and get Williams back on track.
Yes: I think you've made a good point here Max. Actually, in terms of Senna's prospects for the coming season, it is difficult to see how his situation at Williams could be more perfect: As a team, Williams' regressive positioning in the pecking order of late, has surely reached a full stop. This will tend to allow Bruno to keep his head low, whilst consolidating his own prospects for a long-term career on the grid. Expectations will not be high. All he needs to do is beat Maldonado and help prevent Williams from falling into the clutches of Caterham and beyond. And both of these considerations should be relatively easy to achieve.
Yes, I think you're right. It should benefit Bruno to have expectations lowered a little. I understand that many feel he's only in F1 because of his name but it's also this name which has placed unreasonable expectations on his shoulders. Already, the car already looks better than last year's, certainly in terms of reliability and there's a 'clean broom' feeling around the team now; shame it didn't sweep Madam Parr away, but you can't have everything. Williams do need to have both drivers performing though and hopefully Bruno's arrival will get Maldo to calm down and up his game. They're about the same age and have a similar level of experience, a little healthy rivalry would provide some much-needed impetus within the team. And I have the feeling that Bruno brings a positive energy with him.
Compared to many of the others on the 2012 grid, I do not rate Maldonado very highly. This should present a very reasonable opportunity for Senna to claim a 'top-dog' spot at Williams. Seriously, I can see no possible better position for him - in any respect (OK, you may have a point about Parr). Given a completely clean sheet of paper to write Senna's ideal wish-list, I'd have suggested his best seat would be Williams and to be compared against Maldonado! I can think of no better potential 'win-win' situation for him.
It's pretty much last chance saloon for both of them, if one gets trounced then bye bye, they'll both know this from the off so which one is gonna be able to take the pressure. Maldonado seems to be his own worst enemy most of the time, but has shown he has the pace to do well. Personally I think Senna deserves to be in F1, he's a bit erratic but still has the pace, a lot of people complain 'he used his name' but I'm pretty sure of the roles were reversed every single one would do the same. I know a bit about the nature of the beast, and to get to F1 you have to get yourself noticed, and, contrary to popular belief, being a constant winner isn't always the best way, getting your name out there and using every bit of self promotion is the best way to go. Brian Henton springs to mind.
All good points, not sure what I can add but isn't it great how reasonable everyone is in the pre-season?
Max, I always had you down as a thinking man, any more remarks like the above and I may have to revise my opinion. Personally, I dont think Maldo has a ****ing hope in hell, his eyes are far too close together and that stare could kill from 50 metres.
Well I know what you mean about that stare but I quite like a psycho quality in a driver! And certainly, when he was bad he was very, very bad... But he could be very quick too in a godawful car. Perhaps I should have written "I still think Maldo may come good, if he doesn't spontaneously combust first".
